FastFreddy2

Another 'wanderer' returns. Welcome back sir! (I recently checked for your last visit. I was concerned with your absence. ) That was our sentiment too. When I joined my (now) wife, she had two cats inherited from other family members. I wasn't so bothered about the first that passed, but the second was a good companion. I put a lot of effort into making his last months as good as I could, and would have done more if it was possible. I cared for him so much, I had the vet visit, so he could have his last moments somewhere he knew and held by his friend who comforted him during is last minutes in this life. That cat could eat a hotter chilli than I could tolerate. He liked chocolate as much as I did (and climbed my leg once to get at some I had in my hand). He would go out last thing at night (for a pee) on my voice command, and was seldom more than 5 feet away from me wherever I was in the house. When he became very ill, he might sleep on my keyboard that I would be using - I guess for comfort. I still miss his company. A lot. My step daughter changed her job last year, and now works in a vets. She's since hand reared a number of sick kittens at home, and as we all know, kittens are just the cutest things! Mrs F wanted to help, by doing some of the same. We'd been offered a "kitten" that wasn't doing well at the cattery, and the RSPCA wanted it fostering for 6 months to decide if it was a 'prospect' for re-homing, or not. It has 2 congenital diseases, one it will always have, and the second making it hard to insure against vet bills later in its life. [Hence the assessment]. I had said we could not have a cat here for 6 months and then let it go, as it would by then be 'part of the family'. I suggested 2 months would be more appropriate, and it was agreed. For the first day, the cat was quiet, and liked being petted. It was MUCH larger than expected, perhaps 3/4 grown. By day 2 we had taught each other to play 'fetch'. I would throw a paper ball, the cat would bring it back for me to throw again! And it would do this for some considerable time. My almost instant conclusion; the cat didn't need assessing. It was ready to be re-homed and preferably in a home with a couple of energetic 13 year olds!! We bought it some toys for distractions, but it still (by some considerable margin) preferred the 'fetch' game. On day 3 and day 4 I managed to get it up and down our 4 flights of stairs. In the bedroom, he would go completely nuts. I don't know what it was about our quilt, but his ears went back, and meant he would run from one bedroom to another until he got so tired he was left panting on the floor. And away from our bedroom. By day 6 he's started using one of the leather couches as a scratching pad. Not wilful, he's a cat. Day 7 we bought a scratching pad which he ignored. Wouldn't play with it nor me and it either. Day 8, he fell off the back of the couch, grabbing the old curtains on the way groundward. Being old, they tore. Again, not wilful, he's a young cat, with seemingly no idea how to stay stable while asleep on a slippery surface. At that point, I decided I'd had enough. To be honest, I halfway believed we'd been loaned a "sick" cat that was two or three times fitter than me. He was going home. The following day, he went back to the cattery. Before he went I showed the daughter how fit he was by throwing the paper ball. I had him chase me up and down two flights of stairs. She could not believe how lively he was. Nor could the people at the cattery when she took him back. Nor could the RSPCA agent when they were informed the cat had gone back to the cattery. I was very relieved when he left, but glad I wasn't there to see him go. He's been gone a week, and feedback from the cattery is he's just sitting in his cage, sleeping and ignoring the world. He is not showing any signs of his previous energy, nor enthusiasm for doing much at all. Consequently I feel guilty as heck, and have (unrealistically) mentioned giving him another go. It's ridiculous, but I think my melancholy is really me missing my wife's cat that had adopted me, now gone perhaps as long as 5 years.

That's not a completely unworkable idea. For me, a much shorter outing ..... I'm happier with the older ladies. Helps keep me on the straight an narrow.

ooo! I've a vague recollection someone else has mentioned the museum as a place to go for a visit for other interests too. I might be babysitting our grandson and Mrs Freddy next Thursday ..... If the weather is unkind, [too cold or wet for a bike ride] could be an interesting place to take them both.

Hello stranger. Heels and a Harem, what more could any man want? Sounds like a perfect night? I've had in mind to go see Wicked in similar circumstances, accompanied with me in stiletto courts. Ticket prices look cripplingly expensive though .... That said, if I had the presence of mind to put £5 away each month I'd been planning to go, I'd have saved enough to have bought two tickets by now. P.S. And on the subject of Wicked ...... >> Lovely, lovely song.

Jeez, you've got good eyesight! Best viewed at + 2m 50s during the final chorus. They are wearing heels earlier but you'll need to stop blinking or you'll miss the fleeting glimpses. Again, well spotted and great perseverance. Horrendous song! Best watched with the sound off!

Men singing and dancing in heels. >> << Probably not office safe. They have another dancing heels video, but involves using the "F" word quite a bit. Hence no link.

Sounds about right. Mrs Freddy can't believe every door I've ever measured, is a completely different size to any other door I've ever measured. She can't believe how many different types of plumbing junctions/fittings/pipe sizes exist. I can't believe there seems to be a pre and post (circa) 1985 floorboard size, and the 'pre' version can't be bought in general DIY stores.

I thought the shoe exhibition closed in September? Did notice they have 'adults only' shoe evening on 1st of March?

Can't believe I haven't updated this for nearly a year and a half. Where did the time go? What brought it to mind, was a very good friend telling me had had recently installed the ever more popular wood burner. I mentioned the tonnes of wood removed, he was understandably gutted at the loss of the heat source. We have become used to the empty/flat garden. It's had no attention since it was finally cleared some 18 months ago. Mrs Freddy spent several afternoons on at least two occasions last year, clearing weeds to keep the area looking respectable. I had not done anything, giving priority to our main bedroom over everything else. The main bedroom. You would not think one room could cause such anguish. Neither could you think me, or anyone else could spend/waste so much time on one project .... the history: I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist. I don't care if something I put together gets used/ruined, but at one point, it needs to be perfect. Because of this, we (she) agreed we'd get help in for some of the work. My (now ex) 'mate' offered to do the job at 'mates rates'. I said the job was there. If he was good/economic, there was several thousands of pounds of work to do. [At least 6 rooms with a budget of £500-£800 per room if required.] Speed and quality were the main criteria. If I didn't ask him back, he could rightly assume I wasn't happy with his work. Weeeeell, I think the longest he spent here on any one day was 5 hours. He once complained he couldn't get access early enough, and turned up at 10.30am the next visit ..... He spent a lot of time on the phone .... His wife liked to talk. At £430 plus materials into the room refurb, I retired him. Looking back, I doubt I got the equivalent of 2 days full-time work from a 'proper' good builder. I now know a fella who would have reboarded the whole room for £300 plus materials (about £60) and had it done inside 3 days. My 'mate' spent more than a month playing with the room, with perhaps an average of 10/12 hours per the four weeks. Budget (or main part of it) for such a simple room gone, I had to finish it off myself. [Hindsight suggests more money with a proper builder would still have been better/faster. But finding one?] Over the ensuring year, I repaired the walls twice. Both times I'd put 2 coats of paint on the walls, only to have the 3rd coat lift the previous 2. I was at my wits end, and eventually contacted Dulux (the paint people). Upshot of that 2½ hour conversation, was they could only suggest stripping the walls back to bare plaster, and starting over. Given how many hours I'd spent in that room, I was reluctant, but did it on the worst wall. This time round, not only did I flatten the wall after levelling, I sealed it with a good quality acrylic primer. The 3rd colour coat didn't lift! There were still 3 walls and parts of a ceiling to re-do, but I got it done. At the moment, I have 3 colour coats everywhere, and the primer seems to be keeping the emulsion bonded to the walls. No-one I've asked had the reason for the bubbling paint, but I think I worked it out. There are two well known brands of dry-wall finishing. One by Lafarge, one by British Gypsum, it seems the Lafarge product can be put back into solution when it gets wet. I have it in mind the 2nd or 3rd coat of emulsion was livening up the Lafarge product, and allowing the base coat of emulsion to lose contact, producing the bubbling. The primer acted as a sealer, preventing this happening. A lesson hard learned, and one few others have had to discover. Time moves on. Later in the year (2012) I had to change the radiator in the room, as the original was in poor shape and not very efficient. It took 3 attempts to buy a radiator, before I got one that wasn't dented or scratched. UK buyers: source from Screwfix, not B&Q. Screwfix have them packed correctly. B&Q do not. New rad meant pipework was in the wrong position, so I had to modify that. It's when I found (having removed the floorboards) that the supply pipe was 3mm ABOVE the lower level of the floorboards. How is that possible? The join in the boards was raised to accommodate the pipe. They was also wear marks on both pipe and boards through years of movement. How there was never a leak, I don't know. I had to cut ¼" out of the supply pipe in the room underneath, to leave a gap below the bedroom floorboards. The pipes were connected eventually, but didn't/doesn't look pretty under the boards. I avoided complete replacement of the pipework, but needed to ensure pipes were not rubbing against either each other, or any woodwork. The double glazing had been done by a "reputable" firm, and I can only be thankful they weren't fitted by an even worse company. No sealing around the replacement frame other than some hollow plastic cladding that was super-glued into place. Unfortunately, the gluing had not been done to a good standard, and a long length of cladding had dropped. My 'mate' had tried to effect a repair, but like most of his work, it was not up to par. The solution was to remove it all, fill in gaps, repair the broken sill, and reclad the window frame. In hindsight (again) I should have torn out the old bent/split wooden sill, and replaced it with a straight plastic piece. Far cheaper, and weeks faster. I repaired the cracks in the wood, only to find the bent sill had parted from the brickwork underneath. [i had filled the gap underneath the sill when repairing the walls. After repairing the sill, I found the gap had returned. THEN I found the sill was actually floating on the brickwork, it was no longer fixed securely.] I had to drill through the repaired sill, to put a whole new set of fixings in, to make sure the sill stayed in place. then re-repair the upper surface of the sill. There was a ½" air gap all around the outside of the window frame where the glaziers had left the plasterwork unfinished. This was repaired too. At this stage, if it hadn't been for the mess the super-glue had made of the window frame, adding cladding would not have been necessary. The "cloaking profile" (aka cladding) had a curve on it, and mitre-ing the corners was a bit of a challenge, so I did the smaller window first. Using the right fixing adhesive was interesting. I needed something that really stuck (good initial suction), was removable, and allowed a small amount of movement as I positioned it. I had bought 6 different adhesives from a supplier, ranging from £2 to £7. The most expensive guaranteeing to stick anything to anything. As it turned out, the £3 product was ideal. Moving on to the next window, I had doubts I had enough adhesive, so went back to get a second tube. Only then finding out it was no longer stocked, and in fact the tube I had was a year out of date when it was sold to me! Looking through the list of adhesives actually available, I 'guessed' at a similar product for £3-49. It worked and I did the second frame. Filling the gaps around the the window frame, then covering the join with dense expanded uPVC can only help with the sound-proofing and thermal resistance of the joint. Looks nice too! Last part of fixing up the room, was the installation of the 'made-to-measure' blinds, bought 2 years ago. Unpacking them, I discovered they needed to be mounted from above, not from the side as I had expressly indicated to Mrs Freddy some time ago. Mounting from above meant either sticking a batten to my newly repaired/painted window opening, (never going to happen), or drilling 14 holes into a concrete and/or steel lintel. The drilling was the only answer, because it was waaaaaay more difficult. I spent an hour to 90 minutes reading on internet Forums just haw much trouble this problem causes people. Good quality drills (possible) and an SDS drill (impossible) were the solution. About 8 drills (Makita, Bosch, DeWalt) and £30 later, an elbow injury caused by the drill hammer action of my under-powered corded drill, the holes were complete. It took no time at all to fit the blinds, once the holes were made. At the time of writing [Feb 2013] the only remaining building/decorating jobs are one or two spots of paintwork disturbed when installing the radiator. Bed went in yesterday. 27 months after buying the house. Carpets being done when the bathroom and hall are done, as we don't want plaster or tile adhesive getting in the carpet. Furniture to be moved into the room from the smaller bedroom we've been using, when the carpet is down. What next??

Small groups become bigger I think, by the amount of traffic it draws? Not just directly, (actively being searched for; "men in heels") but indirectly by search engines picking up high(er) traffic sites through related searches. Searching for High Heels will sometimes produce links to HHplace for example. It wouldn't take much to keep this place busier. Volume posters like Heelman500 showed lots of promise, as did Love4heels, who also shared some more diverse interests. [i really liked the motorbike touring vid's for example.] Putting on a psychoanalysis hat, it seems that men-in-heels have trained themselves to be so introspective, (guilt ridden) they prefer to listen rather than speak? The guilty secret about which they never speak? Well, I've been wearing heels for a long, long time. I enjoy the feeling of a heel, I like the look of a heel. Too late (too old) to feel any differently now. I have other interests, that the terrible British weather pretty much keeps me away from, so it might seem to some my only interest is heels. It's not the case..... And I'm sure it's not the case with many others here. I'm looking forward to seeing more posts from the regulars.

I have to say (and rather selfishly I'm afraid), you'd be 2nd in the queue if my funds allowed a purchase, after me. However, should I get lucky on the Lottery any time soon, I'll be checking they have your size in stock.

Reading about Shyguys intended trip to Northampton and his plan to take more photo's, reminded me about this thread. I've hopefully sold the 'standard' lens that came with the G5, and expect to use the money on a better quality lens. I've already bought the prime (aka pancake) lens that'll allow fast low light photography. Also found out there's an adapter that will let me use my old Nikon lenses too. Will have to use in full manual mode (or maybe aperture priority) without auto-focussing, but for portraiture, neither of these omissions will be a problem. Adapter has arrived, and the UV filter for the fast lens arrived today. [These are often used to protect the expensive lens from dust and abrasions.] Am keen to get out but Saturday will bring cold winds, Sunday promises rain and sleet, with Monday will bring more snow. Patience Freddy, patience.

I got an email from KG.com late today, and they confirm EU41 is UK8. Also stumbled across the Very.co.uk site and looking at their Carvela range, the site actually shows EU41=UK8 when choosing sizes. I may get a red card, but I should be safe on a refund to someone who appears to be trying it on?

Looking to get another negative feedback or even a 'severely not as described' claim. Buyer is saying a Carvela EU41 isn't a UK8, which it is. New Look, Topshop, Dune and many more would say EU41 is an 8. Two sellers I know that differ, are Next and Marks, who use EU42 as their UK8. Obviously, I could offer to take them back, and lose circa £9 (total) in carriage, assuming what I get back is exactly what I sent, and arrives in the condition it was sent. Even with doing that, I can't guarantee I won't get bad feedback anyway. Usually I check feedback on buyers, but seldom read the feedback they have left. I should have with this one. Of 35 responses (all purchases) 3 Negatives, 1 Neutral, and 1 caustic remark about condition. That's 1 in 7 of their purchases they are unhappy about. If they leave me a bad response, it'll be 1 in 6. Obviously they are a buyer who prefers to be 'unhappy'. Some of their other feedback is weird too. Lots of "Funny", single word responses left? I'm happy to send a link to anyone interested?

These, possibly?

I don't know if I've mentioned Facebook before, with regard to "nothing to report", but seems to me Facebook is full of people with pretty much 'nothing to report'? It doesn't stop the place being busy, nor stop folk updating this-or-that fairly frequently..... If we consider this place [ie H4M] to be a pub or bar, how boring we would be if we walked through the door, sat with people we knew, and said nothing? I might be out of line with this remark, but I find it incredibly difficult to believe members here don't have anything in their lives they could share? For example, we Brits love to talk about the weather. Can offend no-one, it changes 4 times a day here [bright and sunny yesterday morning, snowing at 4pm] so plenty to talk about if you choose to. Possibly (and by that I mean probably), members believe either: (i) if an incident is not shoe or heel related, it's of no interest, or (ii) they believe their lives to be so mundane no-one would be interested to read about it? Plainly, I'm different. As reported above, looking after a cat for 8 days turned our world upside down. That coming from a place that looks like a building site/storage facility! How difficult could it be? Well, a cat can't go outside until it knows where "home" is (eg feeding station). So, empting the poop tray couple of times a day. Feeding a young cat means frequent feeding. Being followed everywhere meant no painting and nothing sharp or moving near to the cat. I got even less done than usual. He pooped everytime we ate..... (Was he trying to teach us a lesson? ) The assumption is my posts get read, so I keep adding things that go on here, that are not shoe related. Wearing heels isn't perceived as normal behaviour for a man, so I can't claim to be a normal person, but the stuff about the young cat is part of my everyday life - hence the mention. I'm sure every member here has similar (non-cat) events that add colour to their presence here. So I'm convinced that unless members here are actually locked up in a cell 24/7, there's very little chance they won't have events -shoe and none shoe related- that might make interesting reading. For example: Seen some interesting music video's on You Tube? I'm not a fan but >> << was good. As was she >> << Shoe related, that might be >> a repeat <<? Perhaps we should all set ourselves a target (or project), that might make this place busier, and maybe even our own lives, just that little bit more interesting? For example: EACH OF US, set ourselves a minimum goal of 2 posts per week. (5 would be better. ) 1 post -shoe related obviously- about something you've worn, or would like to buy, or have bought. With pictures (links) or screen grabs? Boots to drool over? 1 post related to your life in general. Could be (but needn't be) a second post on how you managed to wear heels during the past week after all, heels you've seen while out, or heels you've wanted or hoped to wear, and didn't get to. Or the post could be about how the snow is so deep outside, you've not been out? You're on holiday and the sea 'n' surf are great wherever you are? (Pictures of the resort would be good. ) Tell us about something you've discovered? A new film perhaps? >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2IVUIZX-Ws << >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yJUDR7LtKU << I'm sure all the regulars would enjoy this content, and it might encourage the 'new blood' to contribute too. .......

Weeeeellllll....... I keep checking, sometimes 3 or 4 times a day? I've lots and lots of pictures to put up, and some stories, but trying to get "stuff" done in the home (aka building site). Not helped by us recently taking in a slightly 'fitter' cat than promised, when we offered a foster home to the RSPCA. He was supposed to be a kitten in poor condition, needing some TLC. Turns out he was 3 or 4 months old, with enough energy to wear me out by 3pm most days. As he'd spent most of his time in a cattery, he was not trained well regarding furniture. We now have claw scratches/digs/punctures in our otherwise spotless leather couches, and the final straw came when he used our curtains for a parachute when he fell off the back of a couch. Excellent toilet habits, but terrible attitude to furnishings. Of course most kittens are taught both these before they are large enough to do any real damage, and before their claws are long/strong enough to puncture/damage leather. We expected an infirm and sickly young cat, as "advised". We got one that was happy to run around the whole house all day, and expected 'the help' to play with him. [i have around 20 puncture marks on one leg, where I tried the professional advice given, of "ignore him" usually resulting in him then playing with my legs. Possibly his way to get attention?] The upshot to this is, he had to go back. This was quite a sad situation, because we miss having a cat around, and Mrs Freddy was quite looking forward to nursing a kitten. But the cat was 3/4 grown, and had claws and energy to match. Lovely, well meaning animal, but not what we were expecting. On a positive note, the RSPCA don't need their expected 6 month 'assessment period' to find out if he's fit enough to permanently re-home. Not since we showed them he could run up and down two flights of stairs faster than a 9 year old anyway. And a younger cat will be easier to re-home, than a fully grown cat too. Bit sad with him leaving though.

I was very worried. I had access to the venue, but so did several other people. I was up early (ish) at the weekend, and had waited for a time when the Sun would give me enough light to take some photo's and a couple of tries at a video. My camera doesn't come with a remote, nor editing software, so the stop/start action couldn't have included fumbling with controls. On the morning, I had clothes and shoes 'at the ready'. I changed and prepared in about 5 minutes. The video was done, with a couple of photo's (care of the camera timer) that took less than 10 minutes. I was back in civvies inside another 3 minutes. The whole bit was done and dusted, well inside 20 minutes. Of course I loved every second, walking around listening to the clip clop of my heels, and the challenge of a 5" heel with such a sharp rise..... But it was intense. If one of the owners, or one of their children turned up unexpectantly, as had happened in the past, I had no escape. That said, the day and time was skewed in my favour. The venue had a stone tile floor, no curtains, and mostly wooden furniture. A couple of small 2 seater couches were the only (absorbent) soft furnishings in quite a large bar, so the sound of the heels bounced around nicely. Looking back, I should have made much better use of the place for recording me in heels. Older, wiser.

Not sure how I managed to upload this short video, a year and a half ago, and then neglect to post it? (Senility of course! ) Sorry it's so short, with so much walking in the background. I had to manoeuvre around a table to get in shot, and back again to turn the camera off. No editing facilities so...... Venue no longer available sadly, so no repeat/improved performances either. Red Schuh's with 5" heels, on stone floor. With me in £3 'best fitting jeans I own' too. ....

I've just spent 2 hours trying to find the link for this video. Tenacious, and patient = me. Was trying to work out why this video had so many more hits than the 'other one' of me walking in 5" heels. Answer: I haven't actually posted a link to it yet. Tenacious, patient, and forgetful then?

Looks like I left the long boots for a tad too long. Now out of stock, my size. "He who hesitates ..... "

So, back to 19th September 2012. The initial plan was for the Freddies to travel to Sheffields Meadow Hall via Coventry. Two places I haven't been to for some 15 years each, and places I have wanted to revisit for some time. A 300 mile round trip, so not a venture to be made without some planning, and a full tank of fuel. On the day, we set out too late. The traffic on the main M1 route North was slow, and we quickly realised we might need to implement Plan B. A trip to the closest mall, which was Milton Keynes Central. This is a place that claims to be Europes largest shopping Centre. It may have been at one time, but I doubt this is still the case. The place is huge covering many 10's of thousands of square feet, but while the shop fronts are wide, there's not nearly enough retailers there for the place to be as big as some others I've seen. If walking from the one end (John Lewis entrance) through to the newer West extension called Midsummer Place, you'd be on a comfortable 15 minute walk. Perhaps 4 or 5 blocks long, and 2 or 3 blocks deep. Not great for shopping in a hurry, but great place for walking in heels, without the danger of uneven pavements to contend with. I'd love to walk around the place in heels when it was empty. Paradise? We arrived before the later lunch break had ended, so visited TK Maxx at Bletchley first. I've had some luck there with shoes, and Mrs Freddy has had some luck with a good quality suitcase for last years holidays. This time we found nothing of interest, so returned to MK Central. Parking was still a problem, so we had to scour the car parks for a while. It was a warm and sometimes sunny day, so a short walk wasn't a problem. I was in my HD cowboy boots, and Mrs Freddy was in some heels too, both walking height. Once inside the shopping mall, I was reminded how large the place is. We'd been out for a while, so pretty much headed directly to a coffee shop. While seated, my heels got noticed by the party on the next table. Not a great start, but MK has produced interest in my heels in the past, so I pretty much ignored the odd sideways glance. Once 'watered', we started on the long walk to the large stores at the other end of the centre. There is another TK Maxx en route, with a NEXT store to pass too. While walking along the long pathways through the mall, I was spied by a young girl who was mesmerised by me. First seeing my heels, then looking at me like I had two heads. I suppose I should have asked her "What the **** was she was looking at?" But I already felt conspicuous enough, without drawing further attention. I got a photo of her later ...... Not sure she's in a position to cast a critical eye? So we walked further .... Next stop was the toilets. I never enjoy this, as my heels always make the sound a girl might make, and sometimes men will look to make sure someone hasn't walked through the wrong door? It wasn't too bad, though I was out before Mrs Freddy. As expected, a woman walked past with very high heels, and I was left wondering whether to stay and not get a photo, or walk off and get one. I waited, explained, then bolted to the car park where I thought the woman might be. I got the pictures when she stopped at another building, and at the time, I was fairly confident she knew what was going on. Obviously I can't show her face, but she's smiling and looking in my direction .... Results: Shopping shoes..... I then walked back to the mall. I was certainly getting all the 'heeling' time I could expect, though Mrs Freddy wasn't so happy about my lone venture, so no more wanderings..... We visited all the larger stores, and as usual Mrs Freddy spent and I didn't. So far there was little or nothing to be had from the new season styles, and anyway, I generally buy at sale prices assuming there's stock left for me to buy. We had another coffee, before making the return journey back up the mall and to our car. We'd been there for some considerable time, and we'd both had a good walk around. While there, we decided on an earlier start for a Meadow Hall visit next day, so didn't stay late and didn't eat out either. The walk back to the car and quick photo of Mrs Freddy (shown above), wasn't without incident, as a male passer-by took the trouble to look at my heels as we did the David Bailey and Jean Shrimpton act. Made me a little nervous about visiting a place tomorrow I hadn't been to for so long, but what is living if it's not taking in new experiences? Was a good day out, even if it wasn't the day I had expected. ........